Tag: malawi

Why?

Sarah’s blog 28/7/22

School holidays can be hard for children who need routine and have extra needs. We organised a trip today for our youngest and one of his friends from school to go to https://briarlandsfarm.co.uk.

We had a great time but while chatting his friend asked me what I did as a job. I said that I help children in Africa. She said ‘Why?’ It made me stop and think. ‘Why?’ I answered her saying that the children don’t have enough food to eat and they need clothes to wear too. I told her that uniform from her primary school had been sent for the children to wear. She seemed happy with this answer.

It got me thinking ‘why?’ Well why not? It could easily be me that needed a helping hand. Why shouldn’t we help others wherever they are in the world? Everyone deserves the chance to be the best they can be…they don’t want hand outs, they need a helping hand back to self-sufficiency and a brighter future.

How can children learn properly if they are hungry? If they’ve not slept because of hunger pains or they are cold? If their bodies and brains aren’t nourished and basic needs met then how can we expect them to thrive? Here is really interesting article and why we are supporting some of the most vulnerable children in rural Northern Malawi by taking an holistic approach. Unfortunately, there are no big agencies feeding children in schools in the rural far north where The Foundation is. We can only afford to feed 500+ children once a week with a substantial, nutritious meal and food costs are going up all the time.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/25/the-un-wants-to-educate-children-it-will-succeed-only-if-it-feeds-them-first?fbclid=IwAR1mi3VqSybAYtxxnH3qcJb2wQvyD9GKmbhKhkUNR8WblQ1Byki6u1iTnaQ&mibextid=S3fL8x&fs=e&s=cl

At the nursery, where 75 children meet 3 times a week they are fed at each session. When we build Bright Futures Secondary School, we hope to be able to feed the young people before they start learning for the day. Unfortunately, we cannot feed all the children at the local primary school as there are so many and we do not have the resources. We are changing lives in Malawi and things have improved greatly for some of the most vulnerable children in the rural north but there is still so much to do.

Eventually, children shouldn’t need to be fed in schools when their families are earning a proper wage or having their own small business. Their families will be able to provide food for the children and young people every day. Still some children aren’t eating each day. Their futures depend on being fed and educated. I am glad to be able to play a small part in helping Levison and his team to achieve their dreams for the children they support.

To donate to our fundraiser to build a desperately needed school – Bright Futures Secondary School, you can click on this link https://gofund.me/44a92444

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to help in any way you can email us, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Getting ready for school

Sarah’s blog 26/7/22

As you know, we are trying our best to raise money to build the first block of a secondary school. Bright Futures Secondary School will be a community school for the orphans and other vulnerable young people to attend.

Education should be available for everyone. There are currently not enough places at local secondary schools. If you don’t get picked for a place, even if you have passed your primary leavers exams and can afford the school fees.

This is what happened to eleven of our sponsored young people this year. They are resitting their last year of primary school, hoping for better grades, hoping to be picked for a place.

As the local secondary school is a distance away the young people, who are sponsored and do get a place at school, have to board at school. This adds to costs and also means they aren’t available to help their families with chores.

A secondary school in the village would make such a difference to so many people. Education is their way out of dire poverty – their way to a better future for themselves and their families.

Bricks are being made…about 40,000 so far, and kilns are going to be built soon to fire the bricks.

There are people working hard in Malawi and here to try our best to help these vulnerable children. As well as education, a school will help prevent teenage pregnancies and girls being married off too soon. Already, The Foundation has proved that if the young people are kept busy and given opportunities then there will be far less teenage pregnancies. The young people’s self-esteem has increased as they learn new skills, play team sports with their peers and read in the library. They know people care about them. They have hope for a better future. We need to continue supporting the projects that support them. This is absolutely vital to protect these vulnerable young people.

Here, we are trying to raise funds and awareness. It’s really hard as we know that some people have less available cash. We need to reach a wider group of people and if we all give a little, that will add up to a lot!

Also, we are trying to source supplies to provide for the young people when the school is built. We need to plan ahead as the container takes approximately 3 months for its journey.

There are over 100 chairs at The Bananabox Trust warehouse that we are sending for the first phase of the school. Someone donated boxes of new laptop bags. We are sending 80 of these for the young people to use as school bags. Pencil cases and pens are in boxes too as well as some secondary school uniform.

Stuart, my husband, delivered some boxes and 72 rugby balls to Dundee today and took a photo of all the chairs to show Levison.

I also received a photo from one of our supporters today who put a shout out on her village Facebook page asking for preloved secondary school uniform. People have been very generous as she’s collected a great amount which will kit out some of the pupils who will attend Bright Futures Secondary School.

There’s still so much to do and so much money to raise but we WILL do this. The children are relying on us. So if you can spare a few £££ we would be so grateful. Thank you for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Donate here: https://GoFund.me/44a92444 or get in touch contact_us@changibglivesmalawi.com

The donations that Stuart took to Dundee today including 72 rugby balls from Annan rugby club and Merchiston Castle School. You can see that the warehouse is getting full.
The chairs that we are sending for Bright Futures Secondary School
We are grateful for this huge pile of secondary school uniform donations that we will send for the pupils when they start school

Jackie’s very wet adventure

Sarah’s blog 25/7/22

Jackie is one of the people who has embraced our kilometre challenge and has been doing lots of cycling. She is also keeping a note of the totals for me.

Jackie and family have been helping to move a boat through the locks on the Crinan Canal. There are 15 locks along the canal to move the boats from one level to the next. Jackie had her bike with her and was running and cycling between the locks adding to her total kilometres.

If you want more info on the canal here is a link: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/crinan/crinancanal/index.html

It is a beautiful place and I had said to Jackie last week that there would be lots of tourists watching them open and close the locks as the boat travelled through the different sections. There were no tourists! The rain could not have been any heavier and poor Jackie (and everyone else) got absolutely soaked. She is very brave for allowing me to post a photo of her looking a little bit wet and fed up! Well done Jackie and thank you for adding lots of kilometres to our total.

So I’m going to post a couple of photos to show you how beautiful the scenery is then Jackie’s photos and the route she was running/cycling back and forward!

The new totals are U.K. 1,250.285 kilometres, Malawi 320km = 1,570.285 kilometres which is 11.95% of our total.

To take part in our challenge to travel one of the routes the boxes of aid take from here, Balfron, to northern Malawi… over 13,000km click here https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 and to donate to help us build a much needed school … Bright Futures Secondary School https://GoFund.me/44a92444

If you think Jackie has done a brilliant job this weekend then please donate a few £££. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

Internet photo – One of the locks on the canal on a sunny day
Another photo from the internet… this is what Jackie would have been doing but in the pouring rain!
Jackie’s bike and the boat they were helping to move through the 15 locks in the torrential rain
The Crinan Canal
Jackie covered quite a few kilometres running and cycling back and forward
A very wet and tired Jackie! Well done Jackie and thank you for sharing your kilometres with us!

Our website visitors

Sarah’s blog 24/7/22

Just a short post from me today as I’ve got an issue with my laptop that will hopefully be sorted by tomorrow. It’s times like this that I realise that technology isn’t my forte… but thank goodness for friends who can help.

Douglas & Lynda delivered another load of boxes to Dundee yesterday. Stuart & I spent a couple of hours yesterday packing boxes. The Bananabox Trust shed in Dundee will soon be full again and then they will book another container. It won’t be long until the current one arrives at it’s destination .

Hopefully, I’ll have an update on the kilometre challenge for you tomorrow with some photos too.

So I want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ again to everyone who supports us. We really do appreciate you.

I love this photo from The Foundation Christmas Party where younger children were all given a rain jacket, a pencil and a lolly. Smiles like this are so good to see.

Our website is having visitors from all over the world which is brilliant! This week some of the countries from which people have viewed our website are; Thailand, Spain, U.K., USA, UAE, Canada, Israel, China, Netherlands, Malawi, Ireland, Peru, Zimbabwe, Libya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Antigua and France.

You can keep up to date with the most recent news by signing up to receive my blog. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Traci’s reached 200km

Sarah’s blog 18/7/22

Traci has just logged her second 100km… you are amazingly dedicated Traci, even in this hot weather! Very well done and thank you for supporting us.

Now we need people to show support for Traci’s effort to help raise funds to build a much needed school in rural Northern Malawi. Please read what Traci says:

“I’ve just logged my latest 101.64km for Changing Lives Malawi, walked over the last 8 days, bringing my total for the first 18 days of July to 229.21km – so I’m well on schedule to smashing my 500km by the end of August. I’d like to proudly boast that 4 of those km were done in high heels on Wednesday in Dundee! The rest were done locally in East Dunbartonshire in sensible walking shoes, but todays 11.5km were particularly challenging in Sahara-like conditions!
If you’d like to show your encouragement, and more importantly help build a school in Northern Malawi, please make a small donation at https://gofund.me/44a92444
It would also be great if you could support the cause by logging your own km – it can be a one-off walk, run, cycle, swim, row etc – we really need more people to get involved to reach the target of 13,144 km to Malawi. You can log your km at https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9
Thank you!”

Please donate here: https://gofund.me/44a92444

And to read more info and take part in the km challenge: https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9%20

Thanks for reading and supporting and thanks Traci for your dedication, Sarah x

Traci on her walks in sensible shoes and her lovely high heels that walked 4km!

More kilometres completed!

Sarah’s blog 13/7/22

As well as being good at cycling, Jackie is good at numbers so she is very kindly keeping a record of how many kilometres have been completed….however she does need people to record their km on our form https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 or if you aren’t able to do that then please message me so we can make sure your kilometres are counted contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

We need more people to join us as there are over 13,000km to cover. We are aiming to cover the distance from Balfron where the boxes of aid start from to The Foundation. One of the routes the container takes is from Dundee where the container gets loaded at The Bananabox Trust, then Grangemouth Docks, Antwerp all the way to Beira in Mosambique and through Malawi to Chitipa District where The Foundation is. So any kilometres you can add will be gratefully received….and we will be grateful for any sponsorship money too so we can help build a desperately needed school. To donate here is the link: https://gofund.me/44a92444

Jackie tells me that (including the 320km the children in Malawi completed in their run) 934.42kms have been completed so far…which equates to 7.11% of the total required. It’s a great start but we need more of you to join our team. Whether you are walking your dog, walking round the shops, running after your children or going for a jog…. get a pedometer or track your kilometres on your phone…. you can help us by just doing what you do each day!

Paul is on holiday and has recorded a lovely 5km walk on the beach. Who else is on holiday and having a stroll? Or are you in the gym and can add your cycle or running machine efforts to our total? Looking forward to hearing from you. Today’s photos are of Paul’s beach walk and Jackie’s bike ride with her eldest son Ben. Very well done all three of you! Thanks to all who are continuing to help raise funds to build a school. We really do make a great team! Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

https://gofund.me/44a92444 https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9

Ben and Jackie both cycled 23.51km

Paul’s late evening walk on the beach

Bright Futures Secondary School

Sarah’s blog 26/6/22

Exciting times! Levison and his trustees have named the new school Bright Futures Secondary School! An excellent name as this new school will make hundreds, if not thousands, of children’s lives brighter and give them hope for the future.

Levison says that having a name for the school before even the first brick has been laid is important and the way things are done ahead of meetings with officials.

I’m very excited by this project but also slightly anxious as it’s my job, and our charity’s job, to raise the funds for this project as The Foundation has no funds of it’s own for such projects. Obviously, in time they will be self-sufficient and building a school is certainly providing employment opportunities for clearing ground and making bricks… and that’s just to start with.

Clearing the ground

Thank you to everyone who has given generously already but if you can donate a few ££££ please get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for bank details or my fundraiser is still open https://GoFund.me/ca9c1629 thanks so much for helping us continue Changing Lives Malawi and providing Brighter Futures through Brighter Futures Secondary School, Sarah x

Clearing the ground
Breaking up the ground to make bricks
Bricks being made and left to dry
Bricks are being made at two sites..at the Foundation and at a site about 1km away
Adding lots of water to the soil

On Father’s Day….

Sarah’s blog 19/6/22

https://changinglivesmalawi.com/2022/06/17/a-family-in-need-of-help/

It’s Father’s Day in the U.K. today. A day for celebration for some, a day for reflection for others and a bittersweet day for others as they remember the fathers who are no longer here.

I’m not going to do a long post today as I’ve been writing quite a lot recently but I just wanted to ask you to spare a thought for the orphans and fatherless children in Malawi who need our help and support.

If anyone of you could help a child, we would be so grateful. £25 a month will give a monthly food parcel, a blanket, clothes, welfare checks and education. That’s only 85p per day. If you cannot afford £25, could you and a friend sponsor a child between you? £12.50 a month each for two people to sponsor a child will change their life. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

I’ll share Mercy’s appeal again in the hope generous sponsors come forward for her and her brother. Thank you, Sarah x

Mercy has had to drop out of school due to lack of funds. She needs someone to sponsor her so she can complete her last two years of school.

Mercy’s mum is on her own with two children. Her son is disabled. Please could someone sponsor him to make their lives just a little bit easier?

Photos of children who have sponsors (primary & nursery)

Photos of primary and nursery children who are sponsored. Thank you so much to their sponsors for changing their lives.

Sarah’s blog 11/6/22

**There are just a few children missing from this…once Levison gets their photos this week I will add them here ** Also, a few children’s ages were out slightly…it’s much harder to keep proper records there and occasionally children have got their ages wrong…these details have all been taken from school records. For example little Brighton who was helped last weekend said he was 7. He’s not quite 7 yet…so hopefully that explains any discrepancies. Any information I post is in good faith but I apologise if I get anything incorrect. Anyway….enjoy these photos and I’ll add the others very soon.

The schools are on holiday for two weeks so we thought it was a good opportunity to take photos of those who haven’t had their photos taken for a while. Unfortunately, Levison’s motorbike broke down yesterday (only a small part that needs fixing) but that took him away from his plans to get the rest of the children’s photos.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every sponsor who is making a difference to these children’s lives. All of the photos are of sponsored children at primary or nursery….apart from Rodrick. He was there when his big sisters were getting their photos taken and he wanted his photo taken too! So if anyone does want to sponsor a child…Rodrick hasn’t got a sponsor and there are also children in a post from earlier this week whom I highlighted. Sponsorship is only 85p per day….£25 per month. Two friends could split the cost between them and sponsor a child together. It makes a HUGE difference to these children who know that someone really cares about what happens to them. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Hope you enjoy the photos, Sarah x

Please will someone sponsor Brighton Ng’ambi? Please give him a chance?

Sarah’s blog 6/6/22

Brighton needs someone to take a chance on him…to change his life. How many traumatic experiences has he had in his young life? I don’t know. This is what I do know;

  1. Brighton is an orphan. Both his parents have died.
  2. Relatives are supposed to be looking after him but he is fending for himself a lot of the time.
  3. Brighton is malnourished and hungry. He told Levison that some days he eats once. Other days he has nothing and has to try and find some fruit to eat in bushes.
  4. Brighton is in his first year at primary school. How can he even concentrate at all and learn anything when he will be so tired and hungry?
  5. Brighton will be cold at night time. Does he sleep properly as he’s cold and hungry?
  6. He was dirty and dressed in rags. He had head lice. Thankfully, he was able to have a shower and given nice, clean clothes and shoes before having a nutritious lunch.

We want this little boy to be matched with a sponsor to allow him to have ‘extras’ that aren’t really extra things at all….they are essentials. Brighton needs more clothes, he needs a blanket, he needs a monthly food parcel and to be encouraged to come to the feeding programme each week. He needs someone to keep an eye on him and nurture him. Levison and his team can do all this but having a sponsor will help Brighton to feel better quicker. Being matched with a sponsor will let him know that he is important, that people care about him. Levison is a trained councillor so he can spend time with Brighton helping him. Brighton needs a team of people around him to ensure that he begins to thrive. Can you be that person? Or can you and a friend split the monthly cost of £25 to support Brighton?

Brighton is a little boy who has found himself in awful circumstances, through absolutely no fault of his own. He needs our help. Can you join Brighton’s team? Can you help this little boy? Can you help him to have something to smile about? contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com thanks for reading, Sarah x

Charity, a volunteer, helped Brighton to get rid of the lice in his hair
Brighton came to receive help. He had a shower and was given clean clothes and shoes. Then he had a nutritious lunch.
Brighton is a little boy in need of a sponsor. Can you join Brighton's team to help him feel loved and cared for?
Brighton received help at The Foundation. Now he desperately needs your help – will you sponsor him?

31 Days in May – Sarah’s Challenge – Completed!

Sarah’s blog 1/6/22

Challenge Completed! Today feels quite strange. My challenge is over. I’ve completed what I set out to do. I have far exceeded what I thought I could do on my exercise bike so I am quite proud of myself. I intended to cycle 10km a day to represent some of the younger children walking 5km to school and 5km home again. I never thought that by the end of the month I would be able to cycle 31km! That was a challenge in itself but I was determined….for the children.

I have eaten rice and vegetables every day – raising awareness for what the children have at the Feeding Programme. (I’ve had rice instead of maize flour). I’ve been eating every day. Even then I have had to occasionally have an egg or two or a piece of fruit to supplement my diet. At times, I was so tired, had a bad headache and occasional nose bleed. Unfortunately, the feeding programme can only run once a week for approximately 500 children as, at the moment, we cannot afford more money for it to feed the children more often. No big agencies are feeding children in this area, so the responsibility lies with The Foundation with us supporting them financially. I had a choice to do this challenge. The children whom The Foundation supports have no choices.

I’ve lost 14lb in weight which I’m delighted about. I am looking forward to adding in more food groups and not being so strict about what I’m eating. However, I do still intend to keep cycling…. not 31km though! Maybe after a short rest, I will think up another challenge….or for a large donation maybe someone could suggest a cycling challenge for me on my exercise bike!

This challenge is over but I still have the big challenge of raising money to build a desperately needed school as there are not enough places in the nearest secondary school. If you don’t get picked for a place at secondary school then you don’t get to go. All children deserve an education. All children should have access to education. All the children supported by The Foundation know that education matters and that it is their way out of poverty. They know it is their way to a better future for themselves and their families.

Please help me give the gift of education to hundreds of vulnerable children in rural Northern Malawi. Together we can continue Changing Lives Malawi. Let’s build a school! https://gofund.me/ca9c1629 Thanks for reading and your support, Sarah x

https://gofund.me/ca9c1629 please give generously to give the gift of education
Yay! I did it! 31 days of May Challenge Completed! https://gofund.me/ca9c1629 Let’s build a school!

31 Days in May – Sarah’s Challenge – Day 24, 25 and 26

Sarah’s blog 26/5/22

7am. So glad I am nearly at the end of my challenge. It’s tough because I am thinking about the food that I will be able to have next week and it’s making it harder to keep going with all the vegetables and rice!

As I had done 20km on my bike that I mentioned in my last blog, I decided just to do 10km on my bike for the next couple of days as my legs were sore.

I’ve been eating rice with mixed vegetables, lots of roasted vegetables, soup and a waldorf salad. Trying to drink enough water and finding that quite hard to fit in an extra couple of glasses. As I was out a lot yesterday, I did have a shop bought pack of melon and mango which tasted amazingly sweet and delicious.

6.30pm Just cycled another 20km and really pleased with myself! Never thought I’d be able to do that at the start of this challenge… I was struggling to get past 5km. So I will definitely try for at least two more 20km before I finish.

I decided to do this challenge for the following reasons;

  1. To raise money to build a much needed school as there are not enough places in the local secondary school. If you don’t get picked for a place in secondary school then you don’t go. Education should be available to all. It is the children’s way out of poverty to build themselves a better future.
  2. To raise awareness of the Feeding Programme and what the children have to eat. I am eating rice (instead of maize flour) and vegetables. I am fortunate that I have a choice. I am fortunate that I am eating more than once a day. I am fortunate that I am only doing this challenge for 31 days in May. The Feeding Programme feeds 500 children and young people once a week with a substantial and nutritious meal. As there are no big agencies feeding children in schools in that area, some children are walking from 20km away for this one meal a week. There will be some children who do not eat every day. Teachers have said that children are able to concentrate better and their grades have improved since The Feeding Programme was implemented. It’s not enough but better than it was. We would love to be able to send money to feed the children more often.
  3. I set out to cycle 10km a day on my exercise bike to represent how far the younger children are walking to and from school (approximately 5km each way). However, some days I have been able to cycle 15km and have even done one 20km. I will try to do another couple of 20km before my challenge ends.

If you think that all children deserve an education please donate to my fundraiser https://gofund.me/ca9c1629 Please help me help the children.